Yonder little green (Grandmother's advice)

Collected by Max Hunter (H-9)
For Mary C. Parler
Transcribed by Frances Majors
Sung by Fred Smith
Bentonville, Arkansas
June 22, 1958
Reel 251-52, Item 6
Yonder Little Green (Grandmother's Advice)
My grandmother lived in little yonder green,
Finest old lady as ever you seen,
But she oft times cautioned me with care
Of all false young men to beware.
Tommy—i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
Of all false young men to beware.
But first come a-courting was little Johnny Green,
Fine a young fellow as ever you seen,
But the words of my grandmother run through my head,
I didn't get to hear one word that he said.
Tommy-i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
I didn't get to hear one word that he said.
The next come a-courting was young Galius Ford,
And there we met with a joyous love,
Yes, a joyous love, you needn't be afraid,
Better to get married than to die an old maid.
Tommy-i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
Better to get married than to die an old maid.
Seems, I to myself, there must be some mistake;
All the fuss that the old folks make.
If the girls and the boys had always been afraid,
Gram herself would have died an old maid.
Tommy-i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
Gram herself would have died an old maid.

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Collected by Max Hunter (H-9)
For Mary C. Parler
Transcribed by Frances Majors
Sung by Fred Smith
Bentonville, Arkansas
June 22, 1958
Reel 251-52, Item 6
Yonder Little Green (Grandmother's Advice)
My grandmother lived in little yonder green,
Finest old lady as ever you seen,
But she oft times cautioned me with care
Of all false young men to beware.
Tommy—i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
Of all false young men to beware.
But first come a-courting was little Johnny Green,
Fine a young fellow as ever you seen,
But the words of my grandmother run through my head,
I didn't get to hear one word that he said.
Tommy-i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
I didn't get to hear one word that he said.
The next come a-courting was young Galius Ford,
And there we met with a joyous love,
Yes, a joyous love, you needn't be afraid,
Better to get married than to die an old maid.
Tommy-i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
Better to get married than to die an old maid.
Seems, I to myself, there must be some mistake;
All the fuss that the old folks make.
If the girls and the boys had always been afraid,
Gram herself would have died an old maid.
Tommy-i, tommy-a,
Tommy-up-a-tee,
Gram herself would have died an old maid.